1st Grade MP3 Campus

School Data is open on the first of each month for parent reviews. These are due by the 5th. We hope the cut and paste grade level newsletter will be helpful to supplement your remote learning plan reviews. Thank you for submitting in a timely manner and if you need help, please reach out to your SLPC.

Topics: Class routine, getting to know each other, growth mindset, attributes, tangrams - building with and talking about shapes

Activities: We are off to a great start in math. We spent our first two days of class getting to know each other a bit, brainstorming goals and expectations for a successful year as mathematicians and exploring the idea of growth mindset and how it can help us to be successful in mathematics. We discussed categories and how to use questioning to narrow down attributes while playing the Guess the Shape game. We completed the fall iReady math diagnostic test on campus. We began our first big idea of the year as we explored building with and talking about shapes. We read a story called Grandfather Tang's Story and began working on tangram puzzles.

Teacher Tip: Fact fluency plays a big role in mathematical success. You may want to note which addition and subtraction fact families your student has mastered and what still needs work. The end of kindergarten standard is being automatic with numbers within 5 and we are currently working on numbers within 10 in class.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Kurashige, skurashige@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: class routines, getting to know each other, generating story topics, 5 Star Rubric, storytelling, beginning-middle-end, iReady

Activities: We are off to a great start in Jump into Writing! We took a room tour to get comfortable using our space and are learning class routines. We each created a pennant to teach the class a little bit about ourselves. We did our first 5 Star writing and will begin setting 5 Star goals (i.e., start sentences with a capital letter, use end punctuation, put space between words, writing is easy to read, writing makes sense). We read and analyzed the very funny book Mercy to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo to gain an understanding of the parts of stories. Students created Idea Charts to record their own story ideas from their own lives. Then we each chose a topic from our own lives and shared the story with our elbow partner. We also took time to take the reading portion of the iReady assessment.

Teacher Tips: This is a fantastic time of year to check in on grade-level sight words. You can access sight word lists and other excellent resources at sightwords.com. Tracking trend data can be so motivating and useful (i.e., “9/25 - Can read 44 /100 and spell 40/100 First 100 Fry sight words.”)

Now that we have wrapped up the iReady Assessment, it is a great time to try the iReady Instructional Activities. These lessons are fun and interactive to keep your student engaged as they learn. We recommend students complete 2 lessons per week of personalized learning iReady lessons in math and reading. Your student can access the personalized instruction through their waffle just like they did to take the iReady assessment.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Giesen, jgiesen@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: class routines, getting acquainted, citizenship, communities, rural vs urban

Activities: Our first days began with playing get-to-know you games, reading Franklin Goes to School by Paulette Bourgeois and brainstorming expectations of what a thriving class looks like and sounds like. With background knowledge about the 3Bs (Be safe, Be respectful. Be responsible.), the class sorted pictures showing examples of good citizenship/poor citizenship shown at school, at home and in our communities. This connected well to Citizenship Day celebrated on September 17. They also drew and shared a picture highlighting a way to show good citizenship. Students learned that communities are where people live, work and play. After listening to the story of City Mouse and the Country Mouse by Jan Brett, students indicated where they would like to live and sorted word cards according to where they could be found. (ex.city or country) Students were also introduced to the words rural, suburban and urban. Because these were unknown words, we went through the process of asking wondering questions. From there clues were given until they determined their meaning. Students worked cooperatively with their table group to sort 45 different pictures into urban, suburban and rural. They also created their own pictures showing differences amongst these communities. After reading Franklin's Neighborhood, our class played a game of charades highlighting a variety of community helpers/ occupations. Learning continued by playing a community helpers BINGO game based on three clues given about people in our community. Finally, students completed a paper showcasing a community helper, where they work, tools they use and how they help the community.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Elgersma, gelgersma@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Introduction and care of Chromebooks, identifying letters on the keyboard, logging in, and moving objects with a cursor.

Activities: We began our school year learning about our new Chromebooks and proper computer care. We have been practicing making sure to have clean hands and keeping our devices free of food and drinks. We are continuing to practice identifying letters on the keyboard and logging into our Chromebooks several times a day. Finally, we practiced using the touchpad as we moved computer keys to create a digital keyboard.

Teacher Tip: Have your son or daughter practice logging into his or her Chromebook, opening Google Classroom, closing tabs, and correctly shutting down the Chromebook. All of our activities are located in Google Classroom.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Montgomery, rmontgomery@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Elements of Art: Line, Shape,& Color; Principles of Design: Pattern

Activities: Welcome to art! It has been so fun getting to know these wonderful first graders this month! We began our semester talking about what we want our class to look, sound, and feel like. Each class created a class agreement and each student created a bird with their name as a signature for what our “flock” agreed to. Next, we learned about lines. We practiced acting out straight, curvy, zig-zag, and wavy lines and then drew some on paper. By repeating these lines several times, we created patterns and gave them a pop of color with a tissue paper heart. These have been combined with the other 3 classes to create a mural for our classroom. Our first individual project was inspired by the book, Hidden Gem by Linda Liu. In the story, the main character (a rock) discovers that everyone has something special about them and there is no need to try to be like anyone else! After talking about warm and cool colors, students chose one or the other for their project. Students learned how to “paint” tissue paper onto paper and we used lines & shapes to turn these into gems. They turned out beautiful! They are on display in the lunchroom right now, but students are excited to bring them home, so they will be on their way home soon.

Reflection Questions: Students shared their gem and one thing that makes them special with the class. No two comments were alike! Ask your student what they said makes them special!

Teacher Info: Mrs. Warnock, swarnock@meridian.wednet.edu